


Winter Solstice

by celestial_ringleader



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Bad Puns, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I need to stop tagging, M/M, One Shot, Romantic Fluff, The Greatest Showman (2017) - Freeform, barlyle - Freeform, barlyle-Freeform, bisexual circus dads, i love these two so much it's not even funny, just usual couple stuff, phil comforts the bf, phin doesn't like winter storms, this is the first fic i've ever posted don't judge me too hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 07:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16635587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_ringleader/pseuds/celestial_ringleader
Summary: This is my first ever fic I've ever posted (but trust me I have many more WIPs) so I figured I'd get into the groove with a little barlyle fluff.This was beta'd by the lovely Aulyk (if you haven't read her works you definitely should)Comments and kudos fuel me





	Winter Solstice

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic I've ever posted (but trust me I have many more WIPs) so I figured I'd get into the groove with a little barlyle fluff.
> 
> This was beta'd by the lovely Aulyk (if you haven't read her works you definitely should)
> 
> Comments and kudos fuel me

They should have just cancelled rehearsal that day, though Phineas is not one to listen in on rumors with absolutely no support or accreditation, he had a feeling the rumor of a “terrible winter storm on the solstice” was just another passing thought made by the citizens of the town to unnecessarily start gossip with little to no solid proof of it being real or not.

But he learned very quick how wrong he was. First the temperature dropped dramatically, then the wind started to blow so fast it made the tarp move against its riggings, and before he knew it a blizzard bringing in the, begrudgingly, early winter with it.

To say the very least, it has added up to be quite a long day for Phineas and his partner, Phillip. The winter storm only made that drawn out string under too much strain break as he apprehensively cut off their rehearsal in hopes of getting everyone settled in for the storm. First it was the riggings needing repairs, then it was yet another article in the paper slandering the circus, and now this storm?! Here Phineas assumed this day couldn't possibly get any worse after the frigid walk to the tent earlier this morning, now the entire circus had to be put under lockdown.

Phineas and the troupe agreed it would be too dangerous for any of them to leave the tent with the weather being so terrible, and happily offered to make accommodations in one of the back rooms until the weather calmed down, at least to the point where it wasn’t too dangerous to walk through. After a long hunt for all the warm blankets and pillows in the tent, the troupe settled around a warm fire, hot chocolate in hand, ready to wait out whatever nature could give them.

~

Phineas insisted he and Phillip should discuss plans in privacy of their office despite him wanting nothing more than to gather around and warm up as quickly as possible. Lettie gave him a suspicious look with a sly grin, a few others mumbled and giggled to themselves. After a few reassurances that they're simply going to discuss show scheduling and finances, he finally managed to convince the troupe and lead Phillip off by, literally, dragging him by his coat.

Phillip decides to humor him and let himself be dragged off, winking at the others as the two of them left into the dark and cold ring. The cold hit them too hard as they had to two practically crawl through the frigid tent up to their shared office, shivering in their boots with every step. Phineas shivers visibly as he opens and shuts the door to the office with a small click, rubbing his hands together then placing them on his face. Phillip groans out loud, practically speed-walking to the small closet in their office, retrieving two wool blankets, quickly wrapping one around himself then passing the other to his partner. Phineas gladly takes it with a sigh, draping it over his shoulders.

“Well this is one way to leave off a long day…” Phineas mutters, falling into the couch in a heap as he curls up underneath his blanket, “whoever said winter was going to be late this year was a damned liar.”

Phillip chuckles, sitting beside him, “You know how ‘reliable’ gossip is, if I had known better I would have brought an extra coat.” he looks at Phineas, who only curls up tighter in his blanket, “Not a fan of the cold?”

The elder gives Phillip an exasperated look, “Flip, you know I’m more of a late spring-summer kind of man, the cold is just a little…unsettling.”

Phillip senses his unease, so he quickly tries to change the subject, “But winter is nice, the summers are always so dreadful here. It’s a nice change to not sweat off my own skin whenever I so much as step outside the door.” He moves a bit closer, nuzzling against the ringmaster, “You’re always so warm, why bother with more heat?”

Phineas rolls his eyes, “Of course you wouldn’t appreciate the summer, there’s so much life and nature in the air on the perfect summer day. The only thing the winter brings here is snow, frostbite, and death.” He looks down at the younger pressing against him, “You seem to enjoy the fact that I’m a walking furnace, don’t you?”

Phillip nudges Phineas’ side with an exaggerated sigh, “Oh come now, what about the holidays? The fresh snow on the ground after a long storm and you could relax by a warm fire completely at ease after a day of playing in it? Not even the hot chocolate or warm chicken soup after a snowball fight?”

The ringmaster sighs through his nose, leaning onto Phillip’s shoulder, “Let’s just say I’m not a big ‘supporter’ of the cold.” He pauses, “I’ve never really had the chance to enjoy a snowstorm rather than worry about the cold wind making me and everyone else sick.”

Phillip turns his head slightly to kiss his partner’s forehead, “Then why don’t we just not worry about that right now. Everyone’s safe and warm, the tent is secure, there’s a nice fireplace over there,” he nods his head towards a small stone fireplace next to the couch, “How about we both just shut off for a while? We haven’t been able to take a moment to ourselves for a few weeks…it would be nice, I kind of missed just being alone with you.”

Now that Phineas thinks about it, the two of them have hardly had a moment to themselves since the summer rush; always doing paperwork, organizing rehearsals, attending dinner parties full of politicians and other important investors, the constant shows that were almost daily…god when’s the last time they had a day to just relax? How is it that neither of them have been run into the ground yet??

Phineas thinks of all they could do while they’re here, but those are quickly diminished as he looks into Phillip’s hopeful and tired eyes. He supposes that they could take one evening to just enjoy one another… Phineas smiles softly, “Okay, darling,” he says in false exasperation, leaning up to kiss Phillip on the lips briefly, “I can make us some coffee while you start the fire.”

The younger man chuckles, kissing him back before standing up, his hand going to the ringmaster’s cheek.

Phineas promptly jerks back with a short hiss, “ _Christ!_ Are your hands made of ice??”

Phillip chuckles, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself as he heads towards the fireplace, grabbing a few spare logs and a box of matches, “I have been known to be quite cold at times.”

The elder groans out loud, his head thumping the backrest of the couch, “Stick to playwriting, Flip.”

“Well, no need to give me a cold shoulder over simple wordplay-”

“ _Phillip._ ”

“Why? Are my jokes flakey-” he’s quickly cut off by a balled up piece of paper being thrown at his face. He can hardly contain a laugh as he looks at his agitated partner squinting his eyes at him, “Okay, okay I'm sorry, dearest.” he giggles under his breath.

The ringmaster can't help the giggle that escapes him, it's not like he could stay, or at least pretend, to stay mad at him.

Phineas takes a moment, just looking at his partner work, before standing up and going to the small kitchenette, grabbing two mugs from the shelf then containers of coffee beans, sugar, and creamer. He turns to face Phillip, who’s hunching over the fireplace, then turns back to grab a bottle of vanilla and a small jar of cinnamon powder.

Phillip always enjoys sweet things even though he would never say it out loud, he claims he enjoy candies and other sweets as much as any other man but would be caught by the ringmaster, as well as others from the troupe, eating taffies and chocolate as he works on finances or in the middle of rehearsal. Most seem to think he has a pocket full of candies all the time.

As he begins making their coffee, he begins to hum to himself to fill the quiet room aside from the crackling of the fire just beginning to start. Phillip uses a metal rod to adjust the logs, helping the fire grow into a pleasant plume of orange, big enough to warm the area around the fireplace but not too big to grow much past that, “Funny how no matter how long it’s been, we always end up by a fire somehow.” He quips, “Almost like it seems to follow us.”

“At least now we won’t have to worry about becoming too ‘friendly’ with it once again.” Phineas sighs, pressing the beans in the presser with one hand while the other kept the blanket around his shoulders,

“Well neither am I but if you think about it, that fire did us some good.”

“How so?” Phineas raises a questionable eyebrow,

“We wouldn’t be together for one thing.”

Phineas turns to the side, giving him a small smile, “I suppose you are right about that.” he pours the coffee into the two mugs, watching as the steam rises, a pleasant smell filling the room. He puts two spoonfuls into the cup to his right, adding an extra few tablespoons amount of cream as well as a small pinch of cinnamon and a drop of vanilla. The other one he sticks with only a spoonful of sugar and only a few drops of cream.

After Phineas sees the coffee to be perfect, he walks over to the fireplace, sitting beside Phillip, who has set up a small circle of pillows and blankets. “Here, I hope you like it.” The elder says softly, sitting down as he passes Phillip the sweetened cup of coffee, crossing his legs, “The fires nice.” he adds with a smile,

Phillip gives him a smile in return as he takes it, moving closer to his partner as he gingerly sips on it, his face brightens up as he takes another sip, “How do you always seem to know my preferences?”

Phineas gives a small laugh, sipping on his own coffee, “We’ve shared a bed for over a year, darling, what kind of man wouldn’t know how his partner prefers his coffee to be made?” he wraps his arm around Phillip’s slender waist, bringing his head to his chest. The other man curls into a ball, nursing his coffee, just watching as the fire burns in the fireplace, listening to the hypnotic crackling. If his life at home growing up weren't so ‘less than ideal’ (and that's Phillip being generous about it), he would say it would feel that way.

Phineas shivers when he hears a gust of wind howling past the window. Phillip looks up at him, worry beginning to show on his face. The ringmaster simply waves him off, curling up closer to him. Oddly enough, Phillip being here makes a winter storm suddenly more bearable. He finds himself nodding off as the stresses from the day begin to fade away, barely able to stay awake enough to finish off his coffee cup and by the looks of his partner, he doesn’t seem that much awake either.

Phineas takes Phillip’s cup from his hand, setting it off to the side with his own. Phillip makes a soft sound of protest, only for it to die in his throat as Phineas kisses him softly. “I think we could use the rest, don’t want that pretty face to become wrinkled too early now, do we?”

The younger man leans into another kiss, moving even closer to the elder, “But it looks good on you.” He yawns, his eyes barely able to stay open.

The ringmaster chuckles softly, pressing more kisses to his forehead and temple, feeling the small scar left there from the fire, “Well, it may look good on me, but that doesn’t mean it’s fitting of that pretty face of yours.” he cups his cheek, “Now rest.”

“But-”

“Ah ah, no buts, darling.” He presses a kiss to his lips, rubbing circles on his back, kneading out a knot on his lower back, “We could both use a little rest, don't you agree?” He yawns, stretching his back out.

Phillip nods slowly as he yawns again, leaning onto the ringmasters’ hand, practically melting in place as the other one works out an ache in his lower back. Phineas presses a kiss to Phillip’s forehead, slowly laying the both of them down, their arms around each other, their chests pressed flush close.

Phillip buries his nose into the crook of Phineas’ neck, sighing as he begins to drift off. The only sound over the fire is their steady breaths slowing down as they both nod off, holding each other tight to keep the other warm through the winter storm.

**Author's Note:**

> Tadaaaaaaa  
> I hope to be more active in the fandom and put myself out there more so hopefully (if college doesn't become too stressful) there should be more from me in the future! (My tumblr is nerdy-snowflake so if you wanna give that a follow that would be much appreciated)  
> Thank you and have a lovely day!  
> -PT


End file.
